Okay…so I’m finally back after a few hours away of letting off some steam in the form of a well timed drive to Park Slope in the BK for groceries you can’t find out in Shaolin (Staten Island). Plus the area is much nicer and it was a great night even with the rain which came.

I tried making sense of the Straka call and how it ultimately decided such an entertaining first game which had more twists and turns than a rollercoaster. I couldn’t do it before but let’s give the Pens full marks for coming back and taking Game One.

Sure. With their explosive offense, being three down isn’t insurmountable by any stretch. But it still takes tremendous poise to pick yourself back up and rebound the way they did. 

Obviously, the turning point had to be Pascal Dupuis’ goal 14 seconds immediately following Jarko Ruutu’s centering feed banked in off Michal Rozsival. It got the Pens right back in it and really swung the momentum. Had the Rangers been able to bury chances instead of either missing wide or shooting into the chest of Marc-Andre Fleury, I believe they would’ve been able to hold off the Pens.

Most disheartening was that twice Pittsburgh scored on consecutive shifts making our team D look in slow motion. Coverage was severely lacking by the forwards who got caught watching. That means you Sean Avery!

It’s still kind of hard to fathom Henrik Lundqvist allowing that Marian Hossa tying marker from that inconceivable angle. I thought I was watching another No.30 for a second from recent playoff failures. That guy at least has a track record. So, even if it was through a maze of players, there’s no excuse.

Another frustrating aspect was that after pissing away a 3-0 lead to fall behind, the Blueshirts cameback to tie on a nice Jaromir Jagr setup to Scott Gomez, who in turn ripped home his fourth of the playoffs. Had they played with that sense of purpose up three instead of falling asleep at the wheel, we’re not discussing what the Pens did right even if the officiating came into play with 3:20 left.

My main beef was that on the same shift, the Rangers were setup well and at least twice Pens tackled our players. Nothing. But as soon as The Whiner went the other way, you just knew one of those BHL specials was coming of the made up variety.

For the most part, the Ranger PK was good doing what they had on the previous four successive kills playing aggressively and not giving the Pens much room to setup. The problem was the one time they finally bought enough space, Evgeni Malkin got in front of Lundqvist doing the job as Sidney Crosby’s one-timer bounced off his left foot and in with only 1:41 remaining.

Another thing which irked me was the delay for a nothing review. Just another tease. Of course it wasn’t intentional. Why do they have to review every God damn thing? Because these days, our league is so pussy-footed. They’re too damn afraid of making a mistake and being scoffed at by people who don’t even give a rat’s ass about the sport. 

Screw being image conscious! It gets you nowhere. Be a little daring. Brian’s got it right. The league NEEDS more crooks. Then maybe they’ll garner some publicity. 

The following above statement isn’t something Battle of NY approves of. It’s only purpose is to serve as satire for a league which needs it badly with the way they disrespect the game and fans alike.